A Chip Mong Insee Cement factory in Banteay Meas district’s Sdech Kong Khang Lech commune in Kampot province. Hin Pisei
Thai construction materials producer Siam Cement Group Public Company Limited (SCG) reported strong business growth in Cambodia last year, as revenue from its subsidiaries’ sales in the Kingdom enjoyed double digit growth.
According to an SCG press release on Wednesday, revenue from sales in its Cambodia operation rose to $396 million, a 15 per cent jump compared to sales revenue in 2017. The total sales revenue last year was contributed mostly from the firm’s flagship product, cement.
“SCG will continue to expand opportunities to export innovative products and services following up on the global market direction to meet the consumer needs,” SCG president and CEO Roongrote Rangsiyopash said in the release.
The firm’s representative could not be reached for further details about the source of revenue from last year’s sales.
Demand for construction materials
SCG currently has six subsidiaries firms in Cambodia – Kampot Cement Co Ltd, SCG Concrete Roof (Cambodia) Co Ltd, CPAC Cambodia Co Ltd, CPAC Plank Cambodia Co Ltd, NAWA-CAM Co Ltd and SCG Trading (Cambodia) Co Ltd.
Cambodia Constructors Association general manager Chiv Sivpheng said demand for construction materials has been increasing annually as the Kingdom’s construction industry grows. With increasing population and urbanisation, Sivpheng said the construction industry is expected to continue expanding and benefit local producers.
“The outlook for the Cambodian construction sector will remain good and [the expansion] will provide significant opportunities for local producers to set up production or expand production lines to obtain advantages from the trend,” he said.
According to Sivpheng, cement is one of few items that construction companies can obtain from local producers, while they must rely on imports for many other construction materials.
There are currently six licensed cement factories in the Kingdom, with four of them in operation. The final two are expected to activate their production lines this year. According to the latest Ministry of Industry and Handicraft figures, the four licensed cement factories produced 3.6 million tonnes in the first nine months of last year.
The four are Kampot Cement (2.21 million tonnes), Cambodia Cement Chakrey Ting Factory Co, Ltd (1.22 million tonnes), Chip Mong Insee Cement Corporation (119,000 tonnes) and Battambang Conch Cement Co Ltd (11,000 tonnes).
The Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction’s 2018 annual report showed that 2,867 projects were approved last year with a value of $5.23 billion, down 18.6 per cent on $6.42 billion in 2017.
The report also showed that the number of investment projects approved in 2017 was 3,052.
